International Legal News - 18 August 2025

The following media round up on international and foreign policy issues from around the world for the period of 11 August to 15 August 2025. Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates from the International Criminal Court, European Court of Human Rights, United Nations, European Union and other sources. Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.

Guernica 37 International Legal News

15 August 2025

Peru bribery probe leads to charges against arbitrators

Authorities in Peru have filed criminal charges against a number of arbitrators, following allegations of bribery in exchange for favourable arbitral awards. The allegations are associated with a Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

For more on this story, see here.

15 August 2025

Publication: “Public Law and the UK Supreme Court Key Cases and Decisions”

A new publication commissioned to celebrate the first 15 years of the UK Supreme Court has been published. The new monograph edited by Lewis Graham and Jenny Russell has been published by Routledge. It is composed of a collection of contributions by leading legal scholars and practitioners across the spectrum of constitutional, administrative law, and human rights.

A promising resource for academics, researchers, practioners, and policymakers alike.

For more information, see here.

14 August 2025

India rejects arbitration court authority over water disputes with Pakistan

The Indian foreign ministry has reiterated its position that the Court of Arbitration lacks jurisdiction to make pronouncements about the 1960 water-sharing pact between Indian and Pakistan.

The Court of Arbitration was empanelled under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 to resolve disputes in respect to the shared use of water from the Indus River system. The current tribunal was convened after Pakistan initiated proceedings in 2016.

The foreign ministry’s comments follow a supplemental award issued by the adjudicative body in June which concluded that India’s suspension of the treaty did not remove the tribunal’s jurisdiction.

For more on this story, see here.

13 August 2025

Maldives urged to bring an end to death penalty revival

A joint statement published on Wednesday by a coalition of nine human rights organisations, has urged the Maldives to reconsider proposed legislative amendments to reinstate the death penalty for specific criminal offences.

President of the Republic of the Maldives, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, announced a new review that would propose at introducing the death penalty for persons convicted of trafficking narcotics. The policy proposal follows a significant increase in drug cases, with the state Bureau of Statistics recording over 50,000 drug-related arrests between 2016 and 2023.

It is thought however, that as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Maldives may be in breach of its obligations by introducing the measures.

For more on this story, see here.

To read the joint statement, see here.

12 August 2025

Opposition leader sentenced to 20 years in Chad

A political opposition leader and former prime minister of Chad, Succès Masra, has been found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison after being charged with spreading racist and xenophobic messages and of complicity in murder tied to intercommunity conflict in the region.

However, the human rights NGO, Human Rights Watch has questioned to what extent the trial and charges have been politically motivated, noting that Masra has been an ardent critic of the President Mahamat Idriss Déby.

For more on this story, see here.

11 August 2025 Airstrike kills Al Jazeera journalists

It was reported earlier in the week that five Al Jazeera journalists lost their lives over the weekend in an Israeli targeted airstrike on a press tent outside Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital. Funerals were held in Gaza City on the Monday.

The Israeli Defence Forces have made the allegation that one of the journalists which they targeted specifically, Anas al-Sharif  had been leading a terrorist cell. Reports suggests that outside observers have challenged the veracity of the claim.

Anas al-Sharif, a 28-year-old Arabic correspondent for Al Jazeera had reported extensively on the situation in northern Gaza.

For more on this story, see here.